If he ran for Florida governor, would he be an improvement over Rick Scott? Just about anybody would be. So welcome to the party, Charlie, but all I can muster up at this point is a rather muted “meh.”

Just now Crist was on "Hardball" where Chris Matthews was grilling him on what kind of Democrat he'd really be. Here's what he said about his transformation:

"The party’s changed.” So when asked if he has changed, he answered by saying it was all the GOP leadership’s fault (because of their positions on deportation, voter suppression). He said that the turning point for him was 2 or 3 years ago when he became an independent. "It became uncomfortable" for him to stay in the Republican party.

Indeed, because he couldn't win a Senate primary against Marco Rubio.

He went on to say he's a “live & let live kind of guy… compassionate, kind. Do unto others, reach out, we're all in this together.”

And he claims he's absolutely "fine with" unions and no longer supports school vouchers. “I’m a public school kid,” says he... now.

On immigration, he told Chris Matthews that he's in favor of a pathway to citizenship because his grandfather was an immigrant. Matthews asked him, what about the tough stuff like enforcement? His answer: “I don’t know. I’ll be guided by my heart, my upbringing, common sense."

Matthews, listening to these responses and sounding a little incredulous, said, "That's quite a switch."

Crist ended the segment by sharing that he's “more comfortable with the Democratic party than he was in the Republican party or being an Independent.”

So IMHO, Charlie Crist will have to do more to convince me he's a "real Dem" than to say he's a "live & let live kind of guy guided by his heart." The last time someone tried to convince everyone he was a moderate, he won one debate and then lost a presidential election.

“The Republican brand name is in terrible shape, and people are not naturally sympathetic to the Republicans in Congress. They’re normally not sympathetic to the Congress as an institution, but certainly not to the Republicans. So any time Republicans do anything big or bold, they run the risk of people not liking it just because it’s them doing it.”